“May 16, 2017 – The Women’s Fiction Writers Association (WFWA) today announced the finalists of the second annual Star Award, given to authors of published women’s fiction.Six finalists were chosen in two categories, General and Outstanding Debut.The winners of the Star Award will be announced at the WFWA Retreat in Albuquerque, New Mexico on September 23, 2017.” In the general category, WWK’s Carla Damron was one of three finalist for her novel, The Stone Necklace. Go to Carladamron.com for more information. Congratulations, Carla!

Congratulations to our writers for the following publications:

Warren Bull's new Lincoln mystery, Abraham Lincoln In Court &Campaign has been released. Look for the Kindle version on February 3.

Shari Randall's"Pets" will be included in Chesapeake Crimes: Fur, Feathers, and Felonies anthology, which will be published in 2018. In the same anthology "Rasputin," KM Rockwood's short story, will also bepublished. Her short story "Goldie" will be published in the Busted anthology, which will be released by Level Best Books on April 25th.

In addition, our prolific KM will have the following shorts published as well: "Sight Unseen" in Fish Out of Water, Guppie (SinC) anthology, just released, and "Making Tracks" in Passport to Murder, Bouchercon anthology, October 2017.

Margaret S. Hamilton'sshort story, "Once a Kappa" was published as a finalist in the Southern Writer's Magazine annual short story contest issue. Mysterical-E published her "Double Crust Corpse" in the Fall 2016 issue. "Baby Killer" will appear in the 2017 solar eclipse anthology Day of the Dark to be published this summer prior to the eclipse in August.

James M. Jackson's4th book in the Seamus McCree series, Doubtful Relations, is now available. His novella "Low Tide at Tybee" appears February 7 as part of Lowcountry Crimes: Four Novellas, which is available for order.

Tuesday, January 6, 2015

Is It a Crime? by Carla Damron

It was a typical Friday morning; I was down in my home
office writing and drinking (worshiping) my coffee. Around ten, as I climbed
the steps for a refill, I glanced out our dining room window. A young man ran
down our porch steps and across the lawn. A delivery guy, I decided, so I
opened the front door expecting a package. Nothing was there.

I watched the young man bolt across the street to a
house which is being renovated. He climbed the front steps and tugged on the
door knob. He then ran to a side door and attempted to open it. Unsuccessful,
he moved behind the house.

I grabbed my cell and dialed 9-1-1. “I think someone’s trying to break into a
house,” I said. The kid reappeared and approached the brick ranch next door to
the home he’d just tried to enter, again trying to open a side door.

“Can you describe the suspect?” the 911 operator asked
me.

“I’m looking right at him.” I watched him scurry
around to the front and pull on the knob to that door. “White kid, dark
sweatshirt and dark pants, thin, has short black hair. And now he’s crossing
the street again and going to my next-door neighbor’s.”

This kid was not a subtle crook. I wondered if he was very desperate (drug
seeking?), or simply not very smart.

“Police are on their way,” the operator said.

Ten minutes later, a police officer arrived and asked
me to again describe what I saw. I repeated what I’d told the operator.

“We already have him. He was running up the road. He
says he came to rake yards.”

“I didn’t see a rake,” I said.

The officer shrugged. “Neither did we.”

“Let me call my neighbor.” I should have done that
immediately. I dialed Gloria’s cell phone and told her what happened.

“I’m not at home,” she said.

“Did you hire anyone to rake your yard?”

“Yes. A teenager who lives up the street. Bobby
Johnson (Not his real name). He’s emotionally disturbed. Autism, I think.”

I described the “suspect” and Gloria said that sounded
like Bobby. “Maybe he came to the house and when I wasn’t there he tried the
other houses,” Gloria said.

So now I felt terrible. This kid with autism had come
to rake and I’d called the police on him. When I ran up the road to explain the
situation, I found six police officers surrounding the pale, very scared
looking teen. He looked at me and said, “Hey, Miss Gloria.” Clearly, he was
confused. I felt relieved when I saw they hadn’t handcuffed him.

I pulled an officer and his captain aside and
explained what I’d learned. The captain told the other officers, “Special
needs, guys,” and the tone immediately changed. An aggressive, “What were you
doing at those houses?” turned into “You can’t try to open people’s doors. It
can get you in trouble. It isn’t even safe to do that.”

Bobby’s mom was called. No charges were filed.

That afternoon, his mother called me. We had never
met. I worried she’d be angry about what happened, but instead, she wanted
information. We ended up having a forty-five minute conversation in my front
yard. She explained how Bobby was only recently diagnosed. He’s a highly
intelligent, yet very disabled young man, who functions socially between the
ages of five and eight. He attends a special school program Monday-Thursday
where he receives an hour of therapy every day.

“But I now see I can’t leave him unsupervised on
Fridays,” she said.

After his encounter with the police, Bobby had spent
the afternoon in bed crying. I tried to imagine how terrifying his experience
had been. My guilt about calling the police quickly dissolved; he needed to
learn how his behavior was dangerous.

There are several ways this could have gone horribly
wrong. For example, Bobby is lucky that he is white. Had he been an African
American young man, dressed in dark clothes, attempting to enter houses—would
the police response have been more hostile? I want to say no. I want to think
we are all treated the same, but that isn’t always the case, is it?

Would my response have been any different?

Also, we live in a “stand your ground” state. Had
Bobby tried to open the wrong door, something catastrophic might have happened.

Lastly, Bobby has a mental illness. For years, people
with mental illnesses have ended up in jails and prisons; it’s even said among
mental health advocates that Richland County’s Alvin S Glenn Detention Center
is the largest psychiatric institution in our state. But Bobby didn’t go to
jail. Once the police learned of his autism, they showed concern and
sensitivity in how they dealt with him. They backed away. They used a gentler,
more paternal tone. They wanted him to see that what he did was wrong, and
could get him hurt.

I feel for Bobby and his family as they come to terms
with his disorder. He does have a habit of “sneaking into places,” his mom told
me. I hope what happened will discourage that behavior. It may, or may not;
Bobby processes information in a different way than you and I. If he does have
future interactions with law enforcement, I pray they treat him like the
officers did that afternoon--as a confused kid who needs help.

Your thoughts?

(Another version of this blog appeared in the NASW-SC Newsletter December, 2014)

10 comments:

Unfortunately, in Fredrick, MD, a young man, described as a "gentle giant" (I forget if he was autistic or another disorder) caused a disturbance at a movie theater (he wanted to see the movie again) when he was with a young woman caretaker, who either wouldn't or couldn't pay for watching another movie.

She didn't know how to handle him. The theater management called the police. In the minutes after the police arrived, somehow, the young man was killed.

The parents who didn't blame anyone, called for an investigation. They were not satisfied, and I don't think they ever got justice or found the truth. The young man had four younger and normal brothers and sisters. He lived at home and was a cherished member of their family.

The fact that the police were called at all seems ridiculous. Certainly someone would understand that the young man was disturbed. What would it really have cost them to allow him to watch the movie all the while allowing time for the parents to come and get him. Our values have gone to hell. It's a dollars and cents world.

Thank goodness you were able to intervene, Carla. I agree, this story could have had a very different ending. I found myself wondering if law enforcement training includes dealing with people with special needs.

A different slice of life. I think you did the right thing. It’s good the police changed their style with additional knowledge. They are there to protect (which they did by apprehending the youth) and serve (which they did by changing their tactics once they had additional information.)

In the days of the local cop on the beat, the officer would have already known the kid and would have been able to handle the situation better. Unfortunately, those days are behind us.

That could have easily turned into a tragedy. Thank goodness you found out that the boy was autistic and told the police and that they responded appropriately. I have a couple of friends with autistic children who use service dogs to help keep their kids safe. Also, when people see a child with a service dog they have more information to help them make a more accurate assessment of the situation.

What a touching blog, Carla. I'm glad it turned out okay, but it could have been much worse if he'd been a young black male dressed as he was. I'm hoping things will change with all the media coverage that has highlighted the problem lately.

I've had several students who had Asperger's and found them to be sweet and wanting to please. One of my brightest young students, a girl, took one young boy under her wing and watched out for him. I found that touching.

A potentially tragic situation that was saved by communication and personnel trained in handling special needs people.

I do have to question, though, why the mother ever thought the kid didn't need supervision on Fridays, and why he had only recently been recently identified as special needs. I have seen many children who need specific instruction in how to behave and interact with others, since it doesn't come naturally to them, and the earlier it's started, the better off everyone is.

Usually, no one can tell by looking when a person is mentally ill, crazed by drugs, drunk out of his/her mind, or very angry. They can appear unpredictable and dangerous. Those who have custody of special needs people have to keep that in mind.

A belligerent attitude toward police, or anyone in authority, can easily escalate into trouble for anyone.

All young people should be advised to be respectful, to recognize the authority invested in a person by his/her status as a police officer, and obey all commands. If you, or anyone else, has a problem with it, or thinks the commands are not lawful, make a complaint. There are effective channels for that. And the situation can be evaluated away from the unknown dangers faced by everyone during a tense confrontation.